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A NINE-week-old kitten had to be rescued from inside a dashboard at Birmingham Honda after the mischievous feline clambered into the car’s internals while his owner drove.

The kitten, named Boris, had crawled behind the dashboard of a Honda HR-V, taking advantage of a panel gap near the pedals, having escaped from the basket he was travelling in.

The scary moment happened as the driver was close to Handsworth fire station, so she went to them for assistance. Acting watch manager Russ Edwards and other members of the fire and rescue service attempted to free Boris but didn’t succeed, Edwards then suggested that the car should be taken to Birmingham Honda so that people familiar with the HR-V could dismantle the dashboard.

Edwards accompanied Boris’s owner to the dealership, while a response vehicle followed behind.

Ben Perrow with Boris

Technicians Andy Deakin and Ben Perrow set to work straight away once the car arrived, and their colleagues stopped what they were doing, cautious that the sound of machinery and tools would frighten Boris.

Birmingham Honda service manager Mark McDaid told the Birmingham Mail: ‘We tried everything at first. One of the firemen had just bought a tuna sandwich so we tried tuna – but Boris wasn’t interested.

‘We then used a shoelace to see if Boris would play with that – and he wouldn’t. The technicians had to remove various trims and they gutted the bottom of the dash, but they were able to put it all back together again.’

Perrow ultimately completed the rescue of Boris after more than an hour of work, to the delight of his owner.

Edwards told the Birmingham Mail: ‘The lady was a bit distraught as she apparently hadn’t even told her husband she was going out to get a cat. Its arrival will be a major surprise for him!’